“…A Flame Bright Beyond Common Understanding.”

The words of historian SLA Marshall from a 1960 article in The Atlantic. His subject is Lieutenant Walter Taylor and the breakout from Omaha Beach:

Taylor is a luminous figure in the story of D Day, one of the forty-seven immortals of Omaha who, by their dauntless initiative at widely separated points along the beach, saved the landing from total stagnation and disaster. Courage and luck are his in extraordinary measure.

When Baker Company’s assault wave breaks up just short of the surf where Able Company is in ordeal, Taylor’s coxswain swings his boat sharp left, then heads toward the shore about halfway between Zappacosta’s boat and Williams’. Until a few seconds after the ramp drops, this bit of beach next to the village called Hamel-au-Prêtre is blessedly clear of fire. No mortar shells crown the start. Taylor leads his section crawling across the beach and over the sea wall, losing four men killed and two wounded (machine-gun fire) in this brief movement. Some yards off to his right, Taylor has seen Lieutenants Harold Donaldson and Emil Winkler shot dead. But there is no halt for reflection; Taylor leads the section by trail straight up the bluff and into Vierville, where his luck continues. In a two-hour fight he whips a German platoon without losing a man.

Marshal sums Taylor’s story up with a line that is used in the title of this post:

Thousands of Americans were spilled onto Omaha Beach. The high ground was won by a handful of men like Taylor who on that day burned with a flame bright beyond common understanding.

One Response to “…A Flame Bright Beyond Common Understanding.”

And have you seen the way Google has celebrated this day? With a logo honoring the 25th anniversary of Tetris.

In the decade or so of special logo art, Google has NEVER celebrated, honored, or recognized D-Day or V-E Day, and the only acknowledgment they have made of V-J Day and the end of WW II is with Korea-only logos for Korean Liberation Day.